Train-dispatching system for railroads



TRAIN DISPATCHING SYSTEM FOR RA IIIII DS 3 Sheets-Sheet s S. N. WIGHT TRAIN DISPATCHING SYSTEM FOR RAILROADS Filed Feb. 28, 1928 E m. w[[ FL E llllnlllwllfllllplllelll IIIII III IIIIUHI'MI WI!- May 20, 1930.

venience, called a dispatching machine af-' Patented May 20, 1930 UNITED STATES PA ENT GFFICE SEDGWICK N. WIGHT, OFROCI-IESTE-R, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 GENERAL RAILWAY SIGNAL GOMPAHY, OF -ROCHESI'ER, NEW .YORK- "rimm-msrn'rcnnw SYSTEM Fen nAILnoAns' Application filed February as, 1928. Serial No; 257,643. 7

This invention relates to train dispatching systems for railroads, and more particularly to the dispatchers control and indication board for such systems. I

This control and indication board, for'confords means for permitting the dispatcher to control distant track switches, movable-point frogs and derails, and the signals associated with these trafiic controlling 'devices, and further. gives the dispatcher the necessary information to enable him to control the movement of trains over these devices. v

In accordance with the present invention it is proposed to co-ordinate the actual track layout over which the trains are to be dis-. patched and a; miniature track layout forming part of the dispatching machine, so as to'at all times enable the dispatcher to ascer- 29 tain from the miniature track layout actual traffic co-nditionson'the railroad not visible to him. In the specific arrangement of the dispatching machine illustrated, the dispatcher is informed as to actual traffic condiv i on the railroad by the positon of the switch points of his miniature track layout, the illumination of OS-ing lamps (which inform him of the passage of trains over the switch points), and illuminated direction lamps which indicate thedirection in which trains may travel over single tracksections and the main tracks associated with a passing siding, and by plugs, which represent trains, and which are manually shifted from one 55 place to another on the miniature track layout as the train movement is intermittently inclicated by the OS-ing lamps.

Other objects, purposes and characteristic features of the invention will in part be obvious from the accompanying drawings and e in part be pointed out hereinafter. v

In describing the invention in detail reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Fig. 1 is a parti dispatching machine embodying the present invention;.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of a por-- tion of the operating panel shown in Fig, 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the dispatchal perspective view of a Fig. 6 is aside elevation of a track portion shown in Fig, 7 with a portion thereof shown in cross section, together with the control lever associated therewith;

Fig; 7 illustrates a back view of the appa- "ratus shown in Fig. 5 of thedrawings to gether with: the control lever; and

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrates one of the plugs representing a train, and identifying itsnumher and the direction in which it is moving.

Although the dispatching machine illustrated,.as an embodiment ofthe present invention, is adapted for u'sewith various types of 13183111 dispatching systems it is more particularly adaptable to the systems shown in my prior application Ser. No. 120,428 filed July 8,1926, but a system which specifically differs from this system in that direction are row'lights 10 and 11 areused instead of the direction indicating blades shown in my said prior application. The direction arrow lights 10 and 11 are preferably controlled in a mannor as disclosed in my prior application Ser. No. 221,038 filed Sept. 21, 1927. Also, instead of recording the number oftrains on a recorder, as shown in my application Eer. No. 120,-

123, the movement of such trains over a track switch is preferably continuously visually indicated in a manner as illustrated by the lamp I in my prior application Ser. No. 191,734 filed May 16, 1927, by the lamp 12 of the pres ent application. The control levers 15 directlymechanically control the". position of the 5 symbolic switch points ofthe miniature track I layout associated therewith, and also electrically control the distant track switches wayside signals. The controlswitch 14" is usedto change the functioning of as'uitable audible signal, andis-connected ina circuit arrangement as more clearly shown in myapplication Ser. No. 225,925, filed October 13,1921;v v

they are riding on thetop portion f the QThe preferred form of the train dispatch-- ing machine consists of a housing I of the generalshapes shown, having a removable'back farenoug'h apart to receive the interchange able iniature track portlons 7, 7'; 7, 7,'etc. 1

panel 2a'nd aprojecting; desk 3 supported by brackets 1, the panel board containingthe variouslcontrol levers, switches and indicating lamps, This'p'anel preferably comprises two'metal stripso and 6 spaced sufi'iciently 4 In the particular arrangement shown, the controlle'ver (see Fig; 8) controlstwo-rows of movablecontacts '16, 17, and 18,;connected b rods 29, operated by two rollers81 I (see '1 igsl and 7). I Thecontacts165-"17 and. 18" are a'daptedto co-operate with stationary'com t'acts 19 and 20; and the movable contacts 21 and'22, respectively. All of these: contactsare .;,normallyseparated and the particular point of making and breaking of these cont-acts is difit'e'rentand isadj'ustable by reason ofthe adjustable manner in which stationary contacts 19, 20, 21 and 22 are s'ecuredto their support- 5 1 ing arms by'theadjustable threaded connec- :25

notedthat the variouscontact arms carrying" tions including l'ocknuts' 23. Itshould be these stationary contacts are pivotally sup ported by pins24,;andthat they are biased against stops 25"by suitable spring means not shown. These two sets of movable contact arms toreach'lever15- are connected as by pins 26,27, and 28 totwo operating rods 29v j 'biasedin a direction toward the controllever 7 3 15 by a spring 30. Also, the eXt'reme left-hand end of each 01" these rockingarms 29 has; a roller 31 plvotally connected theretog'whlch f roller 31 cngages the ca1n32 connected to the operating" lever 15. t It shouldbe noted (see Fig. 6) that the rollers 31' assume three different pos1t1ons .dependm upon whether cam are riding on" the intermediate portion 32* or are r1d1ng on the lower portion-'32, and

by reason of this fact the movable contacts 16,

17 and 18 are operable to three different positions in accordance with the movement of the lever abou-tits pivot 33. t should be noted- 1 that by reason of the'reverse action of the two foams 32 one ofthe rocker arm's29 is moved in r one directionwhen the other ofthe sanie lever Vismoved in the'other. -Both ofthese rocker armsare shownin-their neutral positionbecause the lever 15 1s shown in its neutral po- 7 The switch 14 may beof any suitable construction, and has been shown as a cam switch similar to lever 15' adapted to close either of two circuits when assuming its tWO.

extreme positions, and maintaining such cirv cults broken when in the neutral. positlon' In. other words, switch 1 1' is preferably the sameas switch 15, and the two circuitsmen tioned are controlled, respectively, by contacts similar to 16 -19 a-nd"18-'22. v Beferring toEigs. 6 and y it is noted that which slots may Yineaess an operating rod 40 is pivotallyconnected to one of the cams 32 oi lever '15, and that it is adjust-ably connected by its threaded end and nuts 41 to the slide barQ. These slide bars 12 (see Figs. 6 and 7) are arranged to slide on the blocks 43 supporting pins 47 and are heldln pos1t1on by the retaining bar 4d; and

pin 45 projecting-from each slide bar l-2 has a the side thereof;

On the front of the,niiniature'track' lay:

,out-areslots representing tracks and sidings,

oe shifted (see the seventh panel orFig;trepresenting an open CTOSS? over, as distinguishedfrom a"closedcrossover, as shown in panel 6 of'Fig. 1) by indi caters 46 (convent onally representing switch points oftracl: switches), whichlindicators V are secured t o pins/l7 pivotedin the blocks 13. These indicators e6 are shown 1n dotted lines the curved parts or" which are concen-v trlc with pine?1n IF1gra!- oi' thedrawings. It

should be noted thatthis miniature track is composedot blocks or sections all of which are interchangeable so that any commerciah track layout may be reproduced on a miniature scale: from these standard interchangeable parts. These p" points 4 5 project from: the rearof theblocks suliicient distance toireceive the cranks 48'having crank pins 49. The permissible distance oi movement of the crank 48 is dc itermined by the indicatorsee. The extent.

of movement of the slide bar 42, is such that its t? carrying the switch tion to 'the neutral position, it will notvshift or change the position of'the; miniature a a switch polnt 46; In other words if the crank e8 assumes one extreme position and the slide bar 42 assumesits middle position thespring 50 which connects-pinsh 'and49 still'li es on the same side of pivot-417 as'does the pin {19. it, however, the slide bar 42 is moved from oneextreme to the other eXtreIne-pOsimorvedpast the center of tion the spring 50 is the pin 17, and the. crank 481s operated snap action to the other eiztreme position; The net result is that the miniature switch 7 point indicates the last extreme position the control handle 15 hasassumed and therefore indicates the position of the outlying track switch.

. As shown in F ig. 5 each single track sectlon contains, say threeplug holes 51,the maln track of each passing siding includes three plug holes 52 and the side track of each passing siding contains at least three plug holes 53; These plug'holes are adapted to rece1ve plugs tokens or train symbols, a

train occupying the'corresponding part of the railwaytrackas illustrated by the part ofthe miniature trachin which such'plug is inserted. j These tachably' connected thereto means symbolic of the t "ain which is represented thereby and lay panel board 60 (see Fig. 3). The audible signal is preferably sounded only momentarih in res once to a chan e in traffic con- :1, 3, and 4 of by prior application Ser. 'No.

ditions, as is shown'by the bells BL in Figs.

225,925 to which reference has already been made. This relay panel board is pivoted at its lower edge to the casing 1 of the dis- 1 patching machine as by bolts 61. Upon removal of the back panel 2,;vvhich panelis normally held in place'by the latch 64, this. relay panel board 60 may be swung back. out of the dispatching machine to a position in which the pins projecting from the ends of panel 60 engage the lower ends of the slots 66 in the supporting bracket. 67, this bracket 67 being pivot-ally secured to the dispatching machine asby bolts 68. As shownthe control wires are preferably bunched together and secured in the dispatch ngmachine, as

by a clamp 71, suflicient slack being allowed to permit the panel board to be swung to its outward position, thus enabling the wiring associated with the various audible signals and relays to be inspected, repaired, and replaced. 7

, Operation I I Let us'assume that it" is desired to operate a distant switch machine and the associated signals to allow the passage of a train by such trackway location. This may'be'ac complished by the operator moving a particular lever or handle .,15 to the upper or lower position depending on whether the train is to take the siding or main-trackf If,

the handle 15 is moved to the upperposition the particular switch machine is operated to the reverse of take-siding position. If the operator then moves the switch handle 15 to the lower positionthe track switch con trolled by this lever 15 and likewise the miniature switch point 46 on the dispatching machine, is moving to'the main'track position. Since the lever 15 was moved prior to the lever 15v the direction arrow light 11 is illuminated for reasons more clearly described in my prior application Ser. No. 221,-

038 thereby indicating that the direction of plugs preferably have de- 7 ally, it is desired to be particular illustration of the invention shown traffic set up is from left to right. Likewise, the proper way-side signals associatedwith the two track switches are cleared, assuming traflic conditions in advance to be favorable,

and the train may proceed inresponse to the indicating conditions of such signals As the train in question accepts the signals associated with the'track switch controlled by lever 15 and treads upon thedetector track circuit associated with this track switch the lamp 12 associated with lever 15 is illuminated, and the dispatcher is lHfOlIDQd 't-hat the train has entered the end ofthe siding containing this track switch, and he will accordinglyplace a plug in the hole 53 (see Fig. 2) as soon as the train has passed entirelyzoff of the detector track circuit, at which ime the'lamp 12 is again extinguished and the operator is informedthat the train is en tirely within the siding limits, holes, such as -53, have been shown for each section of trackway forthe purpose of en,- ablingthe dispatcher to semi-autoinatically record the presence of a plurality of trains on apai'ticular sectionsuch as the siding in quest on. 'From this brief description it is apparent that if the dispatcher observes the illumination of the various lamps, observes the illumination of the direction arrow lights adjacent to these lamps l2, and then moves the plugs representing the particular train in question, in the proper holes in the mini- Three plug ature track portion corresponding to the 210- H tual portion on which the train is moving,

hewill have before him, so to speak, a miniature railway systemof which each train is represented by a symbolic train consisting of a plug containing an arrow indicating the direction of train movement, colored to'indis cate the class: of the train (freight, assenger,

extraror work train) and nuin er correspending in which is indicated by the position ofv a miniature track switch.

Having thus sho'wnand described a specific embodiment of a dispatching machine conforming with the present invention, and having shown many parts thereof i'zonventionunderstood that the has not been selected to illustrate the specific fto the number of such train, and f the position of each track switch construction preferably employed in practice, i

nor has it been shown to illustrate the scope of-the invention, and it is desired to be understood that various changes, modifications and additions may be'inade to adapt th dispatch v ing machine embodying this inventionto the particular train dispatching system in connection with which it is to be used, all without departing from the spiritor scope of the in vention. or the ideaof means underlying the same,except as demanded'by the scopeof the appended claims. i

* ivhat'i-ciaimisi;:1.

'movements to I control board, a plurality of levers on said,

board, one for each track sw1tch,an ndicator train by the trackjiswitch corresponding lever, w and indicating means q ibetween two adjacent levers for indicating 1.- A. dispatching machine tor dispatching by 'si gnal indicatiODS': visible/to the engineer themovement of, trainsand ndicating train the dispatcher comprising, a

r for eachlever indicatingthepassageiof a controlledby the j thedirection of train movement between the track' switches controlled by sucn levers;

:2. A dispatching machinefor V j by signal ndications translatable by the-engmeer, the movement oftrains and indicating fltrainmovements to the dispatcher compris ing, a'control panel, a miniature tracklayout corresponding to the railway system con-- trolled by the 1 train dispatching machine, a lever foreach track switch of'the miniature track co-ordina'ted with the'trackiswitch of such miniaturetrack, said -.lever controlling 25 thecorresponding track switch ofthc railway system, and anind'icating lamp also co-ordinated. with the levercontrolling the corresponding distant track switch for indicating the movement of a train overfsuch distant track switch. I o V '3. A*dispatching machine for dispatching by suitable signal indications the movement oftrains'over a railway system andfor indiv V eating to the dispatcher I p 35 such system" comprising, a I control panel, a

train movements over miniature track layout arranged horizontally v on saidpanel and corresponding to the actual railway system controlled bythedi'spatching machine, a lever: for: each immature-- track 4g switcharranged invertical 'alinementwith jsuch miniature track switch' -for'controll1ng the corresponding distant trackswitch and" :7 -means forcausmg said mlniatureftrack switch j o assume .a posltion corresponding to the I e5 .positionoii said lever; I

' 60 afininiature .4. A dispatching machine for dispatching by signal indications interpretable hy-the engineer the movementot trains and for indi-' cating. train movements comprising, a panel,

of miniature track switches,

or miniature track switch arranged in vertical I alinement with such to assume a neutral track switch andadapted and two extreme posi- Y tionsfor controlling the corresponding dis 60 7 last assumed -turned' to the neutral position. 7 1, p for dispatching fan 'disp atching;

tracklayout arranged horizon-1 tally on said panel andincluding a plurality a lever for each train movementsi to the "dispatcher compris in ing, I a cabinet, a panel. ;a'ssociated with 1 the .front of said'cabinet,aprojecting desk prof jecting from said cabinet belowjs'aid -pancl board, a miniaturetrack layout on saidpanel board including a plurality of miniature track switches, a lever for each ofsaidminia-. 7 ture track switches,iand means for indicating the passage of'a; train over'thetracki switch controlled bythe corresponding'lever.

6. A dispatching machine for dispatching .by

signal indications; perceived by the engineer the movementof tramsandfor indicating train movements comprising, acabinet, a panel board forming, a partofothe front wallet said cabinet, a desk projecting from relay panel contained in said cabinetc'ontain the lower edge of said pane l"board,a pivoted i'ng alarge number ofelectro-responsive de-] vices, and means permitting said 'relaypanel to be swung out ofsaid cabinet to a'pos'l'tionf facilitating inspection andrepairing of said electro-responsive devices; r

7 A dispatching nachineiordispatching wayside signal indications the movement of trains andqtor indicating train movements 7 comprising, a panel, aminiature track layout! I ,onsaid panel boardincluding a plural-ity oif" i miniature track switches and associated levers tormontrolling the distant, track. switches represented bythe corresponding miniature track switches, an audlble signal for sounds ing the passage cf trains by suchdistant track switches, and a cut-out switch arranged in juxtaposition with 'saidflever ,formanuallyi cutting out, said audible signal. K i

.8. A dispatching machine for dispatching by wayside signal indications'the movement v of trains and indicating train'movements to the dispatcher, comprising, a controlboardp a plurality of leversf'on said board, one for '1 I each track switch, an indicator forieach lever V,-

indicating the passage of a train'by the track switchcontrolled by theicor'responding lever, I I

and indicating means between twoadjacent levers-for! indicating the direction of train movementfobetween the track switches con:

such adjacent 1evers.- A whereof I affix my signature. SEDGWVIGK N. WIGHT.

operation of i In testimony and for indicating trolled in accordance with the "sequence of: V 

